Popular Cardiff venue 10 Feet Tall insist they are 'open for business' despite mass staff resignation
The owners of a popular Cardiff music venue have insisted the business is "open as usual", despite a statement from staff announcing they are all resigning.
In a statement posted on social media on Monday, staff said their decision to quit was prompted by a planning application submitted to turn the premises into a restaurant and commercial units.
The plans were only revealed to staff after they were contacted by a newspaper.
Planning documents say the applicant, the Shah Pension Scheme and its trustees, believe changing the building from a nightclub to include commercial space "should be welcomed" because it would "improve the balance" of what’s on offer in the city centre.
The staff statement, which has since been deleted, said:
''We had no notification about this from our landlord so this came to a great shock to us.
''As of today, Monday 20th January 2020, the entire team of 10 Feet Tall including the management, bar staff and sound technicians will be resigning due to the actions of our company directors and their advisors. We never wanted to have to do this but we feel that we have no choice''
They claim the directors had decided they no longer want to have live music and want to completely close down the basement venue, called Undertone.
The statement continued: "We love 10 Feet Tall but we feel that we cannot work under our present directors who have refused to have any communication with us regarding how we feel the venue should be run.
"We really want our venue to thrive as a space for live music and the community and we had so many plans for the venue we wanted to unveil over the coming months but unfortunately, these are now unable to come to fruition.
"We want to thank everyone who has attended 10 Feet Tall over the years from our customers to promoters, from DJs to bands. We are so sorry to everyone that had booked in future events at 10 Feet Tall and Undertone and we hope you understand our reasoning for having to do this."
The owners of 10 Feet Tall insist they had ''no prior knowledge'' of the landlords planning application and the decision by staff to leave has not helped.
In a statement posted on Facebook they said:
''The Company had no prior knowledge of the landlord's planning application. It came as a complete shock when we found out last Friday.
''Firstly, the Company has an ongoing lease with the landlord and it has always been our intention to carry on trading with business as usual.
''We are now trying to find out further information and the decision by staff today to resign has not helped this current crisis situation. The business wants to carry on employing its staff. In addition, we would like to keep trading as normal.
''We request that any member of staff contact us directly with any concerns.
''As soon as we have any more information a further statement will be issued.
''In the meantime please continue to support us - we are open as usual from Thursday 23rd January 2020.''
10 Feet Tall opened its doors back in 2008 and has a bar on one floor and space for live music on another.
The venue has established itself as a popular spot for music - giving local bands as well as up and coming tour acts a chance to hone their skills. It also operates as a late night nightclub closing at 4am.
It comes following a campaign to save Cardiff's much-loved music scene following the closure of a number of popular bars.